East County Driving Instructor Sentenced for Sex Crimes – NBC 7 San Diego

A former driving instructor and Escondido resident who admitted to molesting and secretly filming multiple female students was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison.

According to the San Diego Police Department, 51-year-old Richard Joseph Banks, who was an instructor at American Driving School in El Cajon at the time of the crimes, was arrested in January on charges of sexually assaulting students during driving lessons and “using hidden cameras in the instructional vehicle to record the private parts of his students.”

Prosecutors said the crimes took place between February and November last year.

Banks was initially charged in connection with 11 victims, but an amended complaint increased that number to 18. Assistant District Attorney Casey French said all but one of the victims were minors.

After the allegations emerged, American Driving School owner Daniel Tackett said in a statement that Banks had passed a pre-employment background check. During Banks’ sentencing hearing Tuesday afternoon, defense attorney Mark Davis said his client has a minimal criminal history, with convictions dating back 30 years that were not similar to the crimes in this case.

French said Banks molested some of the victims as they drove on highways or busy streets.

“They were in a situation where they were fundamentally limited,” said French, who emphasized the victims’ vulnerability in arguing for a five-year sentence, the maximum allowed for the charges Banks pleaded guilty to. “They were alone in the car with an older man. They were focused on driving. They didn’t want to cause an accident.”

Richard Joseph Banks, a former driving instructor accused of molesting and secretly recording student drivers, pleaded guilty on July 9, 2024.

The prosecutor also said Banks ingratiated himself with victims and their families and built relationships with them to isolate them. At times, he offered free lessons or even money to students who did well in lessons or on their driving test, she said.

The mother of one of the victims told the court that her daughter asked her to take a driving lesson because Banks made her feel uncomfortable. However, Banks insisted that the girl ride with him alone, according to her mother, because he said it would be more similar to the actual driving test administered by the DMV.

French said if parents attend the lessons, he will make sure they sit directly behind the driver so they do not see the hidden camera.

Banks pleaded guilty earlier this year to 11 felonies and misdemeanors, including unlawful possession of sexual images of a child under 18, sexual assault, teasing or molesting a child under 18 and lewd and licentious acts with a 14- or 15-year-old. His sentence also includes a requirement to register as a sex offender.